MULTITUDE OF BIRDS. 129 



birds, boobies, gannets (a new species), noddies, and 

 black and white terns (likewise new), the only land 

 birds being land- rails. The frigate-birds had a 

 small colony by themselves ; their nests consisted of 

 a platform about a foot high, on each of which was 

 one young bird. There were young of all ages, 

 some able to fly, others just hatched, and covered 

 with yellowish white down. Those which could not 

 fly assumed a fierce aspect as we approached, and 

 snapped their beaks at us. The boobies and gannets 

 each formed separate flocks, but few of them had 

 either eggs or young ones. All the rest of the 

 island was covered with the eggs and young ones of 

 the terns and noddies. The terns' eggs lay scattered 

 about the ground without any nest, and how each 

 bird found its own again among so many was a 

 marvel to us. The young terns were also of all 

 ages, some fluttering up into the air from under our 

 feet, others just hatched. Each one seemed unal- 

 terably attached to the spot where it had been 

 hatched, and immediately returned to it on being 

 driven off. We had picked a clean spot on the 

 sand, just on the top of the beach, for our bivouac ; 

 but there was one young tern there, a few days old, 

 that we could not keep away from among our 

 things, and the old one kept hovering and sailing 

 and screaming, just above our heads, to look after 

 it. The whole island stank like a foul hen-roost, 

 and we were covered with bird-lice and ticks after 

 sleeping in the sand. We dined upon young boobies 



VOL. I. K 



